98
Chapter 98
The toy soldiers took a present arms stance toward me.
Then, they shouted in booming voices.
Loyalty to the prince, glory to the prince!
I was flustered at first.
Why were they suddenly calling me a prince?
Did I somehow steal the princess doll's subordinates?
I had that question for a moment, but after hearing the toy soldiers' subsequent voices, I realized my guess was wrong.
"Loyalty to the queen!"
"Glory to the queen!"
"Huh? Are you talking to me right now?"
This time, the toy soldiers saluted Ailee.
While using the title of queen, that is.
Seeing that, I understood.
They were just saluting us because we were friends of the princess doll.
It seemed they couldn't say anything else, but they could slightly modify the titles.
That was a relief.
I was worried I had taken away control of the dolls again.
Once was fine, but taking it twice would make me feel sorry for the princess doll and put me in a slightly awkward spot.
The toy soldiers changed direction again.
And they also saluted Jjokkomi,
"Loyalty to the princess!"
"Glory to the princess!"
"Kkuo? You mean me? I'm not a princess."
Next.
They gave the exact same salute to Tosuni.
"Loyalty to the princess!"
"Glory to the princess!"
"Woong!"
Tosuni raised one hand high and received the salute as if it were only natural.
She probably didn't feel any sense of disparity with the title.
Because she was a real princess.
"Loyalty to the little princess!"
"Glory to the little princess!"
"Yooong! I'm a princess too!"
They used the title little princess for the little yellow dragon.
Finally, the toy soldiers turned with a snap to look at the fox.
"Hehe. Hurry up and call me a princess too!"
The fox was sending them looks full of anticipation.
The toy soldiers saluted her in unison.
"Loyalty to the idiot?"
"Glory to the idiot?"
"Eh?"
It was a very appropriate title.
"Hooing... Gom-jjang is the idiot...."
Whatever.
***
"Sniffle... I'm the only one who isn't a princess...."
"Baby fox, cheer up. Bear baby and I aren't princesses either."
"You guys are a queen and a prince! That's not comforting at all!"
"Sorry...."
Pat pat.
While Ailee was comforting the fox.
The princess doll was in the middle of using the necklace to summon more toy soldiers.
It seemed she could still summon more.
"...!"
One, two, three.
The toy soldiers continued to multiply.
In the blink of an eye, the size of the army actually doubled.
But this wasn't the end.
The summoning continued endlessly.
Just what is the limit to this?
Can she summon this many thanks to that scale combined with the necklace?
"Kkuo... The exact same guys keep appearing...."
"There are so many of them now!"
"Wooong, woong."
At this rate, the second floor will be completely full.
It would be burdensome if she summons any more here.
As I was pondering whether to expand the space or create a new floor, the princess doll checked my reaction and stopped the summoning.
It seemed she was also worried that the second floor would become packed with toy soldiers.
By the looks of it, she could probably still summon more.
So the summoning ends here.
Just as I was having that thought.
"......!"
The princess doll's necklace began to glow brilliantly once again.
Wait, didn't she finish the summoning because she shared my concerns?
Was it just a brief intermission?
Rumble-!
This time, a guy twice as large was summoned.
Except for its size, its appearance was identical to the other toy soldiers.
"...!"
The princess doll's necklace didn't shine anymore.
She must have summoned one last powerful toy soldier.
"Loyalty to Her Highness the Princess!"
The toy soldier that was twice as large.
I named the guy the toy general.
Of course, just to myself.
"Loyalty to His Highness the Prince!"
The toy general immediately saluted me next.
He's using an honorific you'd only hear in the Joseon royal court.
What a peculiar guy.
"Kkuo, that guy speaks a little differently?"
"Yong-yong? Speak properly! It's not His Highness the Prince, it's Prince Papa!"
"Woong!"
Little yellow dragon.
The 'Mama' you are thinking of and the title he just used have different meanings.
I didn't bother explaining it.
Because it was a hassle.
***
The toy soldiers seem like they would be useless.
No matter how many of those guys there are, they'll just take up space.
I had been thinking this to myself up until just now.
But I was wrong.
They were not useless.
I didn't have high expectations and had them do a mock battle with the fake dolls, but a single toy soldier was completely crushing most of the fake dolls.
A combat mode existed for the toy soldiers.
It wasn't that they could shoot the guns; a blade popped out from the end of the barrel.
And every single one of them was a master of bayonet combat.
"Wow, the kids our baby summoned are quite strong."
"Hoee! Those guys are surprisingly strong!"
"Wooong!"
"Kkuo... I thought to myself earlier that they seemed useless, but I'll have to take that back."
"If you thought that, you should apologize!"
Jjokkomi must have had the same thought as me.
As expected, we really are siblings.
Anyway.
Most fake dolls were no match for the toy soldiers.
No matter how hard they tried, they were helplessly suppressed.
However, the fake dolls that could be considered somewhat named were exceptions.
The old man fake doll, werewolf fake doll, and transport captain.
Plus guys like the shelter keeper and warehouse keeper.
These guys were lightly playing around with the toy soldiers.
Overshadowed by the strongest trio, I hadn't realized it until now, but the warehouse keeper was also quite strong for someone from the superior grade.
With the old man fake doll from the uncommon grade being the strongest, it wasn't strange at all.
The toy general was on a higher level than regular toy soldiers, fitting his size.
Naturally, he couldn't beat the strongest fake doll trio, but he fought an equal match with the warehouse keeper.
After confirming the level of the toy soldiers.
I decided to entrust the toy general with escorting the princess doll and to evenly distribute the rest of the toy soldiers across the second and first floors.
Because it would be too chaotic to place them all on the second floor.
"Gom-gom."
"...!"
Follow me.
After telling the princess doll that, I took her and went down to the first floor.
Tosuni came down with us too.
She followed along even though I didn't call her.
With a look as if she were keeping an eye on things.
"Woong, woong."
"...?"
Still, standing side by side with the princess doll like this makes for quite a funny picture.
Because of our attire, I somehow felt like I had become a butler serving a princess.
***
I placed toy soldiers all over the first floor as well.
After that, I sent the princess doll and Tosuni up to the second floor first.
I didn't go up and stayed on the first floor.
Because I had some business near the entrance inside the dungeon.
With my arms full of the white mana stones I had gathered from the second floor beforehand, I passed through the maze and arrived in front of the portal heading outside the dungeon.
The werewolf fake doll was standing right in front of the portal.
He had returned here as soon as the sparring was over.
"Gom-gom, gom-gom-gom."
Thanks for your hard work.
After patting his leg to encourage him.
I immediately used the consumption mana contained in the white mana stones to create a new structure nearby.
The structure I created was a prison.
It was a place to lock up intruders.
Since the flag outside the dungeon is currently removed, intruders will probably appear occasionally from now on.
Because I ordered the werewolf fake doll to capture intruders alive if possible, I needed a place to lock them up so they couldn't run away.
"Gom-gom-gom, gom-gom-gom."
Lock up the captured guys here.
When I said that, the werewolf fake doll nodded his head up and down.
For reference.
I didn't tell him to capture all intruders alive.
Guys who were clearly full of hostility.
Guys who resisted fiercely.
Guys with no manners.
I had ordered him that he could ruthlessly kill those types.
If he kept the rest alive and locked them in the prison, I planned to see them myself later and decide how to deal with them.
"Gom-gom, gom-gom."
Well then, keep up the good work.
I turned around and headed to the second floor, waving my hand casually at the werewolf fake doll.
***
The next day.
The frog visited carrying a gift box.
While I was receiving the gift without fail today as well.
"Right, ribbit."
"Gom?"
The frog asked me with an expression that seemed to say he had just remembered something.
"When I entered the dungeon earlier, I noticed a prison had appeared near the entrance, ribbit."
"Gom-gom."
"Who are the guys you locked up in there, ribbit?"
"Gom-gom-gom?"
What, we already have intruders?
I didn't expect to be using the prison just a day after making it....
The intruders must have visited our dungeon around dawn.
Judging by the fact that the frog said 'guys', it seems there's more than one.
But why didn't the werewolf fake doll report this?
...Ah. I never explicitly ordered him to report.
That werewolf fake doll.
He's the type to only do exactly what he's told and nothing more.
"Gom-gom-gom, gom-gom."
"Got it. I'll follow you after organizing the gifts in the warehouse, ribbit."
Saying I would go down and check, I hurried down to the first floor.
And as I arrived near the prison, the werewolf fake doll standing blankly in front of it came into view.
Bow.
The werewolf fake doll spotted me and bowed his head in greeting.
You punk!
If intruders showed up, you should have reported it even if I didn't specifically order you to!
I thought about whacking his leg with my cane but held back.
It would be one thing to hit him lightly in a playful atmosphere, but physically assaulting him out of emotion in this kind of situation would make me look like an evil employer.
Since I became a gentleman teddy bear, I should act like a gentleman.
"Gom-gom."
Move aside.
Let me see the faces of the guys you locked up.
The werewolf fake doll took a step back.
I checked the intruders locked behind the yellow iron bars with my own two eyes.
[Human lv.30]
└Pw.60 (+82)
└Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
└Pw.82 (+60)
└Rnk.Rare
[Human lv.33]
└Pw.66 (+85)
└Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
└Pw.85 (+66)
└Rnk.Rare
[Human lv.31]
└Pw.62 (+81)
└Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
└Pw.81 (+62)
└Rnk.Rare
Humans?